Privacy Policy

OpenBorough does not require an account. We do not ask for your name, email address, phone number, home address, or any payment information. You can use the entire site anonymously.

What we don't collect

• Names, email addresses, phone numbers, or mailing addresses
• Payment or financial information
• Precise geolocation (your selected Council district is stored only in your browser)
• Social media profiles or contact lists
• Any data that personally identifies you

What stays on your device

The following are stored in your browser's local storage. They never leave your device unless explicitly noted in the next section. Clearing your browser data removes them entirely.

• A random anonymous device identifier (a UUID we generate on your first visit)
• Your selected NYC Council district
• Your selected language
• Your selected civic topic preferences, used to personalize the homepage
• Dismissal flags for first-visit banners (so they don't reappear)

What we store on our servers

If you use the "Watch this bill" feature on the Track Legislation page, your anonymous device identifier is sent to our server along with the bills you've chosen to watch. This allows you to see your watched bills when you return. No other information about you is sent or stored.

You can stop watching any bill at any time, which deletes the record. Clearing your browser's local storage will also disconnect your watch list from your device, since we have no other way to identify you.

Cookies

OpenBorough does not set any cookies. We use local storage (described above), which is a separate browser mechanism that does not transmit data on every request the way cookies do.

Analytics

We use Vercel Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to understand which pages are visited and how the site performs. These tools are cookieless and do not track individuals across sites. They collect aggregate information such as page views, referring URL, country, and page load timings. We do not log or store IP addresses ourselves.

Push notifications

Push notifications are not currently enabled on OpenBorough. We do not register push subscriptions or send push messages at this time. If we enable push notifications in the future, this page will be updated to describe the data involved and you will be asked to opt in explicitly.

Service providers

We rely on the following providers to operate the site. We do not share identifying information with them because we don't collect any.

• Vercel — hosts the website and provides cookieless analytics and performance metrics
• Supabase — provides the Postgres database that stores legislation data and anonymous bill watches
• Anthropic — generates plain-language summaries and translations of public legislation. Only the legislation text itself is sent to Anthropic; no user data is involved.
• Buy Me a Coffee — processes voluntary donations on its own website. If you choose to donate, you interact with Buy Me a Coffee directly under its own privacy policy. We never see your payment information.

Where our public data comes from

Legislation, votes, sponsor records, campaign finance figures, ethics filings, and election candidate data are pulled from public government sources including the NYC Council Legistar system, the NY State Open Legislation API, NYC Open Data, and the NY State Board of Elections. This is information about public officials and public proceedings, not about you.

Your choices

• Clear everything: clearing your browser's site data for openborough.nyc removes your device identifier, district, topics, and any watched-bill association.
• Browse privately: using an Incognito or Private window means nothing is stored after you close it.
• Opt out of analytics: most ad and tracker blockers (uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, etc.) block Vercel Analytics by default.

Children

OpenBorough is suitable for all ages, but it is intended for general audiences and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone — including children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated date at the top of the page will reflect when. Substantive changes — for example, enabling push notifications or adding a new service provider — will be called out clearly.

Contact

Questions or concerns about privacy? Reach out at devonteduncan202@gmail.com or open an issue on the project's GitHub repository.